Introducing SmartThings Labs

We’re excited to announce SmartThings Labs, a brand-new category in our SmartApps catalogue that will make it easier than ever to control all of the connected devices in your home from the SmartThings iOS or Android app.
Labs gives customers early access to a curated group of popular third-party devices and services that can work together with SmartThings to add more value to your smart home than they can alone. Labs may showcase new product solutions created in-house, as well as selected integrations built by our growing community of developers.

As our engineering team works to fine-tune these integrated products and solutions with our platform, they will move from Labs into more prominent sections of our app to make way for new integrations and features in the SmartThings Labs. While we work to polish the edges of the different products and solutions in our Labs, customers may experience a few performance issues (after all, it is called Labs).

Labs is open for all SmartThings customers. To unlock it, simply go the the Labs section of the SmartApp catalogue. Android customers will also need to download our new 1.2.8 version of our app.

The three products we’re debuting in the SmartThings Lab are currently being showcased in our #HelloSmartHome connected house at CES: Philips hue, Belkin WeMo, and Sonos. See below to learn more about how SmartThings and these products can integrate to unlock a new world of possibilities. We’ll unveil new Labs product integrations here on our blog, so be sure to check back frequently.

Phillips hue (Connect)Labs not only lets you control all of your Philips hue bulbs or hue strips from the SmartThings app, but also lets you integrate these devices with SmartThings so that they turn on or off when different events take place. After going through the set-up process in the SmartThings Labs, you’ll be able to easily turn your hue lights on or off, or dim or brighten them from your Things screen, as well as from your Dashboard. To adjust the color of your hue lights, simply tap the gear to the top-right of your Philips hue icon on your Things screen.

A few of the many things you can do:
• Set all of your hue bulbs to automatically turn on and off when you arrive and leave home
• Trigger a hue bulb or strip to turn on just by walking into the room
• Flash your Philips hue lights when you get a new Twitter or FB follower (via IFTTT)

Belkin WeMo (Connect)By integrating your WeMo Motion and WeMo Switch with SmartThings, you’ll be able to extend the capability of your connected home even further by triggering more things to turn on and off when motion is detected and ceases.

A few of the many things you can do:
• Automate your Philips hue lights to automatically brighten when your WeMo Motion detects that you’ve woken up in the morning
• Trigger your WeMo Switch to then start brewing coffee as you get out of bed
• Receive instant alerts when your WeMo Motion senses unexpected movement while you’re away

SonosWe’re especially excited about our integration with Sonos, as we’re unveiling two new product features made possible in the SmartThings Labs: Sonos (Connect) and Sonos (Control).

Sonos (Connect)This gives you all the basic control and command of your Sonos music system directly from the SmartThings app.

• Play and pause a song from your Things screen
• Change a track from your Things screen

Sonos (Control)Sonos can become the voice of your connected smart home by giving you spoken notifications and alerts through your Sonos speakers. Just as SmartThings customers can receive various push and text notifications whenever events take place that they want to know, they can now trigger their Sonos music system to speak to them and let them know what is happening at home. Sonos will pause a track and communicate the message if Sonos is playing, and then resume playing once it delivers the message.

Sonos Control can be triggered by things like movement, arriving and leaving home, or turning electronics on or off. In addition to being a fun way to set your smart home to react to your unique personality, Sonos Control also has a valuable security component that can protect you and your property.

A few of the many things you can do:• Listen as Sonos tells you when someone has come home• Know when your mail arrives each day by receiving a spoken notification• Receive an immediate voice alert when a leak is detected• Trigger your Sonos to automatically play when you arrive home, and turn off when everyone leaves
• Secure your home by setting Sonos to blare a loud siren noise or recorded dog bark if your door, garage, or windows unexpectedly open when you’re away from home.

As always, we really value your feedback. As we continue to tweak, adjust, and improve these experimental Labs integrations, we’d love to hear what you like, what could be better, and new things you’d like to see in Labs moving forward. Just shoot us a note to Labs@SmartThings.com.

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Awesome news guys! I’m totally signing up for the Labs right this minute! :)

Mike

Awesome now iam buying sonos because of you . I hope we will see Nest thermostat controls will be added to labs

Patrick Garber

You can control Nest with SmartThings. Look for Nest on the SmartThings build project page.

Ryan Boyd

Can’t wait for access to Labs! Sonos is probably one of my most favorite purchases of all time, and I’m hoping Smartthings will join that list soon!

alttext

Hi Ryan. Just wanted to make sure you got access to Labs features if you wanted them. Let me know!

Gonzalo Marquez

Just got Labs. Amazing Hue integration! Now i just want IFTTT could change modes :)

Gus Morgan

i just got labs added to my hub but have no idea how to pair wemo and sonos. can pairing steps be found online?

Krell

I, too, would like to know exactly how to pair a Sonos player with the Hub. I’ve tried every way I can think of on both Android and iPhone. I’m sure I’m missing something obvious — can someone tell me? I can’t believe this isn’t posted online for all to see.

Gus Morgan

Here is the reply I received from Support:

You have to add it through the SmartApp itself, not the (+) icon.
Should be listed under “labs” in the explore SmartApps
iOS: Menu (upper left icon) > Apps > (+) icon/explore smartapps – scroll to the bottom
Android: Explore (upper right icon) > Explore SmartApps- Scroll to the bottom

Krell

Ah for anyone who’s having trouble, for Sonos, you first have to go into the Sonos (Connect) smart app, and then you wait for it to find your Sonos devices. This will pair them. Then you can use the Sonos (Control) smart app to do what you want to do.

killer152

Can you control exactly what the notifications and alerts say? I’m mean down to the words used?

eliot_smartthings

@killer152:disqus do you mean with Sonos (Control)? You can’t edit the notifications quite yet (working on that), but you can select a message from a preset list.

alttext

Not in all cases (yet). Certain “SmartApps” allow for this. Also you can write your own (or alter existing) SmartApps and have them say anything. I think this feature will be added at some point to the setup that occurs on the dashboard too.

After that you can load up any SmartApp and you can make small alterations (even if you are not too technical) or large scale ones.

Tim Donovan

Is or will Xanboo security systems be intregrated into the smartthings hub?

alttext

I can not readily see which protocol the Xanboo systems uses but I have a hunch it is similar to X10 and used a 900 mhz frequency or similar. If so, support from SmartThings would only be cloud to cloud and would not be a priority to get in place for some time, if ever.

krell

Do you have the same answer for Insteon? I think that is also similar to X10.

alttext

Yes – maybe these things are something we add as modules that get added later but do not reside as a distinct radio in the hub.

Tim Donovan

Hi, any news on if xanboo can be used with smartthings hub? I thought Id check since its been ten months.

Tim Donovan

I just did a search using a part of your paragraph above, which protocol the xanboo systems uses. I got this back “XANBOO system.XANBOO systems use a online viagra proprietary protocol called AFM”. Will this help figure out if smartthings can use my xanboo system?

Are you guys getting emails saying your hub has been updated? I requested an update a little while ago but no dice yet

Jay Allen

Please consider adding support for the WeMo insight switch?

alttext

We are planning for it.

joseph

and 1 year has passed :(

Paul

Interested in getting the Sonos speaker.
Do you need the Sonos Bridge to be able to work with the Hub, or do you just need to have the Sonos speaker itself?

alttext

You don’t even need the bridge in many cases without SmartThings. If you connect the speaker into ethernet it just works. Only need the Bridge if you are positioning the speakers far away from your router/ethernet. (Then you just throw the Bridge near your router)

Paul

thanks for the info!

http://Recreation-pro.com Eric Zwerneman

Where exactly do I find Labs? Do I need to have a hub first?

alttext

SmartThings Labs is something that folks with SmartThings hubs can opt into and get new releases. Right now everything in Labs requires a hub. You can do a few things without a hub at this time but only a few basic things like using your phone as a presence sensor.

http://www.infinitescoop.com/ Infinite Scoop

Does Smarthings Labs support dimming or ramping up brightness at particular times using the Hue bulbs?

alttext

Yes. You can use modes/phrases in “Hello, Home” to do this as well as setting up settings based upon your presence, time of day, sunrise/sunset, etc.

http://www.infinitescoop.com/ Infinite Scoop

That’s great to hear. I’m hoping to use the Smarthings Hub to control Hue lighting to gradually brighten in my room in the morning before I wake up.